Revolution axles not compatible with drum brakes?

HornedToad

HornedToad

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I am in the very last stages of installing my revolution super 35 kit and my drum brakes won’t seat all the way onto the new axle flanges. I put some grease on the flange surface and then put the drum on, torqued it down, and then took it off to see if the grease deposited on to the drum. Nothing. Drums came off dry and clean. Also when I peer through the stud hole with a light I can see the gap between the mating surfaces.
Wtf? Has this problem been encountered by anyone else?

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macleanflood said:
I just did mine a month ago and didn't see any issues.

Are the c clips in and the axles pulled all the way out?

-Mac
Click to expand...
Yes. And I even pulled the axles out several inches to make sure.

In the second picture you can see the ring inside the drum where the axle flange is hitting.
 
HornedToad said:
I am in the very last stages of installing my revolution super 35 kit and my drum brakes won’t seat all the way onto the new axle flanges. I put some grease on the flange surface and then put the drum on, torqued it down, and then took it off to see if the grease deposited on to the drum. Nothing. Drums came off dry and clean. Also when I peer through the stud hole with a light I can see the gap between the mating surfaces.
Wtf? Has this problem been encountered by anyone else?

View attachment 329252

View attachment 329253
Click to expand...
Just have to take down the OD of the flange a small amount. See it all the time and if you didn't see it, you didn't know what to look for.
 
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Unless I am crazy, I believe I either need to grind down the outside of my axle flange, find a brake drum that is slightly different, or convert to discs.
I am so fed up with Revolution right now. Before this problem I had to deal with their rebuild kit coming with the wrong outer pinion bearing and they were no help. They responded with the typical “oh that weird let’s see what we can do” and then they stopped replying to my emails, not to mention they never sent me the correct bearing.
Now I have to deal with this stupid-ass giant dual bolt circle flange.

Sorry for the rant. I guess my real question is if anyone is familiar with the different drums that are available and what works and what doesn’t in this specific instance.
 
mrblaine said:
I am familiar.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the replies. Is there a drum you could recommend that is less likely to interfere or would I be better off just grinding down the OD a bit? I don’t love grinding on shiny new things but I will if that’s what it takes to work.
 
HornedToad said:
Thanks for the replies. Is there a drum you could recommend that is less likely to interfere or would I be better off just grinding down the OD a bit? I don’t love grinding on shiny new things but I will if that’s what it takes to work.
Click to expand...
I am not aware of a specific drum that solves this problem. It has been around since aftermarket shafts have been being made. Also why if you look at the flanges on some, they are radiused inward around the edge.
 
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So basically this axle needs chucked in a big lathe and taken down a few thou at a time until it fits.

Lovely...might need to look at mine more carefully.

Find a good machine shop or a friend with a big lathe.

-Mac
 
macleanflood said:
So basically this axle needs chucked in a big lathe and taken down a few thou at a time until it fits.

Lovely...might need to look at mine more carefully.

Find a good machine shop or a friend with a big lathe.

-Mac
Click to expand...

With the shaft in the axle, I suspect one could turn the flange by hand while holding a grinder in the other. Several light passes while spinning steadily would do it. Those of us with big brake kits up front do the same thing.
 
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jjvw said:
With the shaft in the axle, I suspect one could turn the flange by hand while holding a grinder in the other. Several light passes while spinning steadily would do it. Those of us with big brake kits up front do the same thing.
Click to expand...
I just get out the grinder and get after it. It doesn't need a few thou at a time, it just needs to clear and not nick the lug studs.
 
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Three 5ah batteries later on my grinder and the drums now sit flush against the axle flange. I sprayed paint inside the drum after each bit of grindage to see where it interfered until the drum eventually deposited paint flatly against the flange. Here are the before and after pics:

8AFD596D-E37D-4AFE-BFDA-B2F95448B029.jpeg

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HornedToad said:
Three 5ah batteries later on my grinder and the drums now sit flush against the axle flange. I sprayed paint inside the drum after each bit of grindage to see where it interfered until the drum eventually deposited paint flatly against the flange. Here are the before and after pics:

View attachment 329396
View attachment 329397
Click to expand...
We don't even use 2 bars on a 12ah.
 
Glad you got it working, but I agree that's incredibly frustrating. There are PLENTY of drum brake 35s out there (I suspect maybe the majority?) so if they're going to make a part that fits less than half of the target vehicles, at least a note in the description would be nice that modification is required to install. But then they probably wouldn't sell as many. 🙄
 
freedom_in_4low said:
Glad you got it working, but I agree that's incredibly frustrating. There are PLENTY of drum brake 35s out there (I suspect maybe the majority?) so if they're going to make a part that fits less than half of the target vehicles, at least a note in the description would be nice that modification is required to install. But then they probably wouldn't sell as many. 🙄
Click to expand...
The problem is how hard it is to catch the machining error where the stupid axle company missed the clearance cut on the flange for the drum brakes since so few actually install them with drums. This is how they are supposed to look and they did have them that way at some point.

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